NEH Approves 2008 Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers and Community College Faculty

Over $26 million in Total Awards and Offers Approved for 159 Humanities Projects

WASHINGTON (August 8, 2007)–The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) today announced the 26 successful applicants to host the We the People 2008 Landmarks of American History and Culture workshops for school teachers and community college faculty. Next summer will be the fifth year NEH has offered the program, which has already allowed over 7,500 educators from across the United States to travel to historic landmarks for intensive, week-long workshops to deepen their knowledge—and their students' knowledge—of the nation's history.

The approval of the 2008 Landmarks sites was part of more than $26 million in total grants and offers of matching funds announced today. The 159 projects funded are designed to advance humanities research and prepare scholarly editions, provide high quality public programming on television and in libraries, support projects in U.S. history and culture offered by state humanities councils, preserve significant humanities collections, and support long-term plans for strengthening humanities programming at cultural institutions.

Among the 26 Landmarks workshops, 20 have been developed for K-12 teachers and an additional six have been designed for community college faculty. Held at sites such as Pearl Harbor and James Madison’s Montpelier, and led by some of the nation's most prominent scholars, these workshops offer thoughtful investigations of crucial periods and events in American history and challenge educators to make connections between what they learn and what they teach. By broadening the experience and knowledge of our nation's teachers, the Landmarks workshops seek ultimately to deepen students' understanding of American history and the Americans who lived and made that history.

“The announcement of the next year’s Landmarks of American History and Culture workshops is always an exciting time for the Endowment, and we hope educators across the country will be inspired by the 2008 selections,” said NEH Chairman Bruce Cole. “We hope these teachers will apply to encounter our nation’s history at the places where it was made, and then, they will take these experiences back to their classrooms — where they will make American history come alive for generations of students.”

The grantees for the 2008 Landmarks of American History and Culture for school teachers are:

The NEH grants and matching offers announced today come from six of the Endowment’s major program areas—challenge grants, education programs, federal/state partnership, preservation and access, public programs, and digital humanities. Scholars and institutions in 44 states, the District of Columbia and 5 U.S. territories received support from the NEH. A complete state-by-state listing of grants can be found at www.neh.gov/files/press-release/national_humanities_quarterly_awards_july_2007.pdf[1].

Some of the projects cited in this release and included in the online files have received an offer of an award; in such cases, the exact dollar amount and duration may be subject to change:

Programs, total number of projects, and total dollar amounts for grants and offers of matching funds included in this announcement are as follows:

Challenge Grants (5) $3,510,000 in matching offers

We the People Challenge Grants (5) $3,510,000 in matching offers that must be matched by non-federal funds to be raised by the grant recipients on a 3-to-1 basis.

Education Programs (69) $10,307,526 (plus $10,000 in matching offers)

Landmarks of American History for School Teachers (20) $3,115,577.

Landmarks of American History for Community College Faculty (6) $691,159.

NEH grants are awarded on a competitive basis. Throughout the year, humanities experts outside of the Endowment and members of the National Council on the Humanities consider all applications and advise NEH on the quality and significance of each proposed project.

Media Contacts: Office of Communications at
(202) 606-8446 or
info@neh.gov[2]